A liquid crystal display device generally includes a liquid crystal panel that is a display panel and a backlight unit that is an external light source disposed behind the liquid crystal panel. The backlight unit includes a plurality of cold cathode tubes that are linear light sources, and an optical member for converting light emitted from each cold cathode tubes to even planar light. An example configuration of the optical member is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2005-221619